There are many challenges with long term optimal energy efficient installations of outdoor insulated pipe and conduit, including the protection of these from ultraviolet exposure, weather, wind, physical and material degradation or both. The degradation of these pipe insulated materials is very important to maintain energy efficiency as the heating or cooling systems depend on the conveyed fluids and the maintaining of temperatures being controlled. These temperatures can be negatively affected by extreme outdoor temperatures and in turn, make the systems work harder and longer than would otherwise be necessary, therefore adding energy consumption.
In addition, building fenestration has also become an important energy efficient issue. The stoppage of outdoor atmospheric air coming into the buildings is a very important issue, as this negatively affects the controlled indoor building temperature and will make the cooling and heating mechanical systems work harder and longer than would otherwise be necessary, and again therefore adding energy consumption.
There are also many associated installation challenges when exterior wall penetration is required including sealing, connecting, aesthetics, maintenance, and flexibility. Many times the multiple amount of Air Conditioning or Heating unit systems and the respective line sets are ganged up in one central location making it difficult for the installer to install, seal, and protect each and every line set. Therefore, there is a need for a receiver that can accommodate the line sets in a quick, efficient, aesthetic, and a systematic battery or gang method. These installations are common in apartment buildings, office buildings and where more than one system is installed in the same area.
There are many different ways that these installations are taking place. More specifically pipe insulation is generally not being protected and the weather exposure causes the degradation of the soft foamed polymers used as insulation. When the pipe insulation is protected, in many instances, adhesive tapes are used. The weather exposure eventually causes the tape adhesives to either fail due to unraveling or fusing to the polymer causing material permeation issues, corrosion, mold, and maintenance issues.
Among the many different methods presently being used is the recess boxing method. This is done by the installer having a metal box fabricated and embedded into the exterior wall and having the line set passing through the box and then sealing all around with a urethane foam or other kind of sealant. In this method, aesthetics and proper long term sealing are inadequate, as the installations look unsightly with unaesthetic unfinished cavities in the wall and the hardened urethane foam materials fail and become cracked therefore leaving air leakage gaps.
There are installations presently being used that make use of single inlet roof flashings which are attached and are embedded to the rough membrane of the exterior wall and which are made of sheet metal, plastic or a combination of both. The flashing is used to contain an area for the line set to go thru a single metal area and other flashings contain a neoprene resilient single area for the seal of the line set that stretches to accommodate different diameters. However there are several set backs to these installation methods. When metal only flashings are used, not only does it become a necessity to seal the line set gap left between the annular metal area of the flashing and the line set to seal for air leakage, but a very difficult to seal hollow area is created. This area is presently being sealed by the usage of adhesive tapes that fail or foam sealers that also eventually fail. The roof flashing is also limited in that it does not allow the installer an option of attachment as the installation always has to be made on the rough wall while construction is taking place. Therefore if the installer misses or forgets to do the installation during construction, it will be difficult to correct the problem later. The other limitation is that the single passageway holds a very thin area that requires a difficult angle to accommodate and lacks surface area continuance, making an efficient installation impossible. This is due to for the most part the extreme directional angles of the piping to be accepted. In addition, whether a plastic or a metal flashing is used or not, the non-supported exterior wall finish material that is terminated at the single neck area radius of the flashing, creates a difficult and unsupported surface area for application of the finish materials. This will leave areas with unfinished material gaps, crevasses, and cracks that cause air leakage. The other limitation of roof flashings is the lack of flexibility of the single opening as the line sets address the wall, from many different angles, before going into or out of the exterior walls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,267 to Rodriguez and U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,681 B2 to Gilleran show examples of roof and wall flashings.
In addition there is another installation method that uses an exterior rigid plastic wall shield that is not always economically feasible. Most of the linear line sets are installed in the cavity of the exterior walls. Sealing to prevent air leakage is not a feature in this system. In addition there is a limitation with rigid shields as flexibility has become a challenge and an important requirement for full enclosure of these hard to follow line set patterns.
There has been a need for a complete insulated pipe and duct mounting arrangement in the marketplace. The installer has been having to depend on make shift custom fabrications that leave much room for improvement and are limited on sealing, aesthetics, attachment, and that are time consuming to install. Therefore there is a need for an improved system which is easy to install and highly efficient in operation.